As society moves forward, mobile devices, such as mobile telephones, smart phones, personal data assistants (PDAs), etc. are being used and depended upon more and more in everyday life. Today, it is not uncommon for a person to have a mobile telephone, PDA, laptop, and a personal computer. These devices typically include one or more applications which allow a user to send/receive e-mail, draft documents, maintain contacts, maintain schedules, organize finances, etc. The portability and usability of these mobile devices allow a user to perform many tasks which tends to promote greater efficiency and productivity.
However, while mobile computing devices have changed many lives for the better, there are some drawbacks, partly due to the limited screen size or viewable area that a user is able to see when using the device and the large amount of data and applications that can be stored on the devices. For example, due to the large number of available applications on a mobile device, it can be tedious for a user to find certain data that may not be available through one or more applications that the user is currently using. The user is typically dependent on a particular application to find and use data associated therewith. Searching through multiple applications and lists of data items stored on the mobile device can be cumbersome due to interaction and other constraints, which tends to lead to inefficiencies and repetitive actions.
For example, suppose a user wishes to access an e-mail from a specific person. The user must first locate and open the particular e-mail application on the mobile device. Next, the user needs to find the e-mail of interest, which may include trying to recall when the e-mail was received, the subject matter, and maybe other recipients included on the e-mail. While some e-mail applications include a keyword search function, it tends to be an inefficient and cumbersome process. Likewise, if a user would like to review details of a meeting, the user must first locate and open the calendar or scheduling application. After locating and opening the application, the user now has to manually look at each meeting until locating the desired meeting. Additionally, as briefly stated above, the display or viewing area associated with many mobile devices tends to be limited based on the size of the device itself. Thus, it is difficult to use and view information associated with multiple applications at the same time without opening and using each application independently of one another.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the various embodiments of the present invention have been made.